The Paddocks, Gowran

Area

438 m²

Buildings

2 buildings touch it, 94 m² on the ground

Zoning

No zone of a development plan covers it in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply.

Townland

Gowran

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 65 recorded monuments.

• KK020-060 Historic town
  Description

  On a gentle W-facing slope, on the N side of a tributary of the River Barrow, which flows c. 5km to the E. Kilkenny city (KK019-026----) is located 12km to the WNW. The town is organised on an E-W axis with burgage plots running from the main street N and S to the town defences (KK020-060003-), though the length of the plots on the S side appear to have been less, possibly as they backed onto the castle demesne. A burgage boundary in the NE area of the town was excavated in 2005 (03E0863) in advance of the construction of the Abbeygrove housing estate and was found to consist of a fosse (Wth c. 1m; D c. 0.5m) (Stafford 2008, 196). The 13th-century parish church (KK020-060006-) is roughly centrally placed, though set back, on the S side of the main street. A 1710/11 map the town showing a cross towards the E end of the main street, suggests that the original market place was located in this area, S of the main street and probably infilled with a 'Malt House' (KK020-060018-) (White 1710/11). There is a triangular fair green at the W end of the town. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 399), before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the chief rulers of Ossory had a royal residence at Bealach Ghabhrain (Gowran Pass), which was a significant part of the routeway between Ossory (Munster) and Leinster. Between 1162 and 1165, Dermot O’Ryan’s grant of lands for the foundation of the Cistercian Abbey of Killenny was confirmed at ‘Belachgaurain’ by his overlord King Dermot Mac Murrough, in the presence of Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin and many other nobles (ibid., 399-400). Following the acquisition of the Kingdom of Leinster by Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in 1172, his followers were rewarded with portions of the kingdom and Gowran went to Theobald fitz Walter, Chief Butler of Ireland (ibid., 400). It is likely that a motte and bailey castle (KK020-060005-) was probably erected in Gowran around this time. Before fitz Walter’s death in 1206, he granted a charter of incorporation to his ‘free burgesses of Balligaueran’ (ibid.). Carrigan suggests that it was also fitz Walter who appropriated the Rectory, or moiety of the Rectory of Gowran to the Knights Templars, of the Priory of Kilmainham, who are found in possession of same as early as the year 1254 (ibid.). Early in Edward II’s reign, c. 1307-10, oak trees from the Templars’ woods at Athkilton were given to repair the houses at ‘Ballygawran’ (Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 329-30). Gowran was besieged and captured by Edward Bruce during the Bruce invasion in 1316 (ibid.). In 1321 Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, who had died in London following a pilgrimage to the shrine of St James at Compostella, was buried in the parish church (KK020-060006-) in Gowran, as was his son James, the 1st Earl of Ormond in 1337 (ibid.). In the 14th century Gowran was very much a frontier town, as is emphasised in a document of 1382 which gives, ‘licence to Thomas Derkyn and Walter Cantell, who are staying in the marches of Ballygarveran on the frontier of the Irish enemies, viz. McMurgh and Onolan and their accomplices, to treat and make concord for themselves, their tenants and for the men of others, and to give them provisions and cloth, for the defence of their tenants and others against the invasions of the Irish, provided that they should not give or sell them any victuals, horses or armour in time of war, and that this treat is not to the K[ing]’s prejudice nor that of this faithful people (chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/https://chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/5-richard-ii/192; accessed 9 March 2021). No doubt in response to this threat, and in keeping with the prestige of the Butler family, a new castle was erected c. 1385 by James Butler, the 3rd Earl of Ormond. This castle (KK020-060004-), which no longer survives, appears to have been built on a site close to that occupied by the later house built in 1816 by Viscount Clifden (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 400)). ‘Castle (Site of)’ is indicated on the 1900 revised 6-inch OS map c. 75m NE of the later ‘Gowran Castle’, though curiously is not indicated on the earlier 1839 edition. There is a reference to one Teige OCarroll being imprisoned in Gowran castle 1399 (ibid.). Carrigan quotes from the Patent Rolls, stating that in 1415, ‘The town of Balygaveran, in the county of Kilkenny, in the marshes of the said Co., being situated far from any English aid, and being surrounded by Irish enemies who have lately burned it and destroyed the lieges therein, and daily threaten to do so again, the King grants it burgesses and commons, to assist them in surrounding their town with a stone wall, paving their streets, and doing other necessary works, the privilege of taking, for the term of forty years, such tolls and customs as were taken in the town of Kilkenny by royal charter, rendering all accounts thereof before the Earl of Ormond and not to the Treasury’ (ibid.; chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/https://chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/5-henry-v/165; accessed 9 March 2021). In c. 1501 the portreeve (mayor) and ‘commons’ of Ballygrowran sent their town charter to the Earl of Ormond requesting it be reconfirmed and that, ‘we might be relewed [released] of Coyne and lewray [coyne and livery] as your fre burgeses acordynge our furst fundacion specified in our said old chartre’ (Curtis 1937, vol. 4, 347 (Appendum 3, 56)). The practice of coyne and livery, whereby the townsfolk had to billet, feed and sometimes pay the wages of troops, had been banned within the Pale in 1488 but continued in the march territories, obviously much to the annoyance of the townsfolk of Gowran. The Calendar of Ormond Deeds records an inquisition taken at Kilkenny after the death of James Butler, Earl of Ormond in 1546 which describes the manor of Ballygawran (Gowran) as containing, ‘appurtenances [rights pertaining to property], and one castle, thirty messuages [a house with outbuildings and a parcel of land or yard], eighty acres of arable land, four acres of meadow, twenty acres of pasture, with two acres of underwood and two water mills, with appurtenances, in Ballygawran, also 9l. 6s. 8d. chief rent due of the burgesses of said town each year, besides suit of court [obligation to attend and participate in the manorial court]’ (Curtis 1937, vol. 4, 301-02 (361)). A more detailed rental account of Gowran appears in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds c. 1550 (Curtis 1941, vol. 5, 44-7 (25)). This lists the burgesses according to where they are located in the town. A 1710/11 map of the town shows the town with its defences, gates, houses and property boundaries. Three town gates are indicated, the ‘Magdalan Gate’ at the E end of the town, the ‘West Gate’ at the W end and an internal ‘Gate’ at the E end of the market place. The earlier rental account however, mentions a total of seven town gates, referred to as ‘barr’ or ‘barre’ including, ‘Maugdelin barre’, ‘Castell barr’, ‘Tibirdowanis barr’, ‘West barre’, ‘Nywe gate’, ‘Tregis barr’ and ‘Gregisbarr’, which are possibly described following the town circuit from E to S and then W to N (though also probably including an inner gate). ‘Tibirdowanis’ is possibly a corruption of the Irish for Tobar an Domhnaigh (Sunday’s Well). The 1710/11 map names the main street, ‘The Street’ and the fair green, ‘The Green’. A ‘Haggerd Street’ is named running outside of, and parallel to, the S town wall. A cobbled surface excavated (06E0237) in 2006 in advance of a proposed development in Gowran demesne was identified as the possible remains of Haggerd Street (McLoughlin 2007, 18). There are three lanes on the S side of the town, one, ‘The Lane’ runs S from the E end of the main street towards the castle which probably terminated at Castle gate, one called ‘College Lane’ which provided access to the college immediately E of the parish church, and one called ‘St John’s Lane’ which ran S from ‘The Green’ and possibly terminated at ‘Tibirdowanis barr’. There was another lane/street whic

• KK020-060002 Cross - Market cross (present location)
  Description

  A 1710/11 map the town showing a cross towards the E end of the main street, suggests that the original market place was located in this area, S of the main street and probably infilled with a 'Malt House' (KK020-060018-) (White 1710/11). There is a triangular fair green at the W end of the town which Thomas (1992, vol. 2, 115) suggests may have originally been outside the town but which was incorporated as a result of an expansion westward. The cross indicated on the White map was probably the market cross and this appears to have subsequently moved to the fair green which effectively became the market place. Local tradition relates that, ‘the Cromwellians broke the cross down and that the pieces were scattered on the green’ (Drennan 1965, 58). Only the base of the cross survives. It has been placed on a circular concrete plinth on the SW grassy island within the green. It consists of a straight-sided plain block of limestone, square in plan (dims. 0.6m x 0.6m), which tapers towards the top. The top of the base has a rectangular socket (dims. 0.18m x 0.2m; D 0.18m). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 22 March 2021

• KK020-060003 Town defences
  Description

  On a gentle W-facing slope. A short length of a stream runs along the SW angle of the town, part of a tributary of the River Barrow, which flows S of the town, reaching the Barrow c. 5km to the E. Kilkenny city (KK019-026----) is located 12km to the WNW. The medieval town was roughly rectangular (area c. 12-19 hectares) organised on an E-W axis with burgage plots running from the main street N and S to the town defences (KK020-060003-), though the length of the plots on the S side appear to have been less, possibly as they backed onto the castle demesne. The N line of the town defences had been preserved in the N properties boundary, as indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and 1900 revision. These survived relatively intact up until the mid 1990s, however, subsequent expansion of housing developments along the N side of the town has obscured the N line of the town defences. The only murage grant known for Gowran is referred to in the Patent Rolls, stating that in 1415, ‘The town of Balygaveran, in the county of Kilkenny, in the marshes of the said Co., being situated far from any English aid, and being surrounded by Irish enemies who have lately burned it and destroyed the lieges therein, and daily threaten to do so again, the King grants it burgesses and commons, to assist them in surrounding their town with a stone wall, paving their streets, and doing other necessary works, the privilege of taking, for the term of forty years, such tolls and customs as were taken in the town of Kilkenny by royal charter, rendering all accounts thereof before the Earl of Ormond and not to the Treasury’ (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 400; chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/https://chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/5-henry-v/165; accessed 9 March 2021). A 1710/11 map of the town shows the town with its defences, gates, houses and property boundaries. ‘The Rampart or Trench’ is indicated forming the N line of the town defences, while ‘THE TOWN WALL’, forming the S boundary, is indicated running NW-SE from Gowran Castle (KK020-060004-) to the edge of the town, opposite the inner gate (White 1710/11). Three town gates are indicated, the ‘Magdalan Gate’ at the E end of the town, the ‘West Gate’ at the W end and an internal ‘Gate’ at the E end of the market place (ibid.). A rental account of Gowran in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds, c. 1550, mentions a total of seven town gates, referred to as ‘barr’ or ‘barre’ including, ‘Maugdelin barre’, ‘Castell barr’, ‘Tibirdowanis barr’, ‘West barre’, ‘Nywe gate’, ‘Tregis barr’ and ‘Gregisbarr’, which are possibly described following the town circuit from E to S and then W to N (though also probably including an inner gate) (Curtis 1941, vol. 5, 44-7 (25)). ‘Tibirdowanis’ is possibly a corruption of the Irish for Tobar an Domhnaigh (Sunday’s Well). Thomas (1992, vol. 2, 115) offers two suggestions for the presence on an internal gate, favouring the later. Firstly, that it indicates that the town was originally larger and contracted, necessitating the building on an inner gate, possibly coincident with the 15th-century murage grant (ibid.). Secondly, that the inner gate was originally an external gate and the town extended westward, an argument strengthened by the fact that the fair green was usually located outside the town and had become incorporated and that ‘Haggerd Street’, shown on the 1710/11 map running outside of, and parallel to, the S town wall, was probably accessed from St John’s Lane, probably the original extra-mural route to the S (ibid.). There are three lanes on the S side of the town, one, ‘The Lane’ runs S from the E end of the main street towards the castle which probably terminated at Castle gate, one called ‘College Lane’ which provided access to the college immediately E of the parish church, and one called ‘St John’s Lane’ which ran S from ‘The Green’ and possibly terminated at ‘Tibirdowanis barr’. There was another lane/street which ran from the NW angle of the green to a gate. This lane is suggested by the arrangement of property boundaries on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and was identified in an excavation (06E0625) prior to the Ogenty housing development (Ó Drisceoil 2009, 263). There was probably another lane/street leading to a gate in the N circuit, perhaps running from the N side of the green. An archaeological excavation (96E0314) through the N line of the town defences (ITM 663277, 653645) uncovered a fosse (Wth 4.7m; max. D 2.1m below ground level) which the excavator suggested was originally c. 5m wide and c. 1.7m deep and probably defined the northern edge of the town (Campbell 1996, 3-5). Excavations (03E0863) prior to the construction of the Abbeygrove housing estate revealed several sections of the town ditch (Wth 4-5.9m; D 1.35-1.5m) towards the E end of the N line of town defences, running NE-SW (between 14 and 15 Abbeygrove and the Gowran Abbey nursing home), with indications of a substantial internal bank (Wth 4.5m) (Stafford 2003, 8, 9; 2008, 196). Further excavations (04E0201) N of the fair green, in advance of The Steeples housing estate, revealed that the town ditch (Wth c. 4m) had continued along the line drawn in the 1710/11 map and that the kick-out at the back of the property had been a later 18th or early 19th-century extension (McLoughlin 2004, 10). Discolouration of the subsoil S of the town ditch was interpreted as possible residual bank material (ibid.). The excavation (06E0625) prior to the Ogenty housing development also revealed part of the town ditch (Wth 3m; D just over 1m) in the NW angle of the town, running E-W and beginning to turn SW, showing that the kick-out indicated on the 1710/11 map does not follow the medieval town defences (Delany 2023; Ó Drisceoil 2009, 263). The foundations of a mortar bonded wall (T c. 0.7m), possibly the town wall, were identified S of the town during the excavation (06E0237) in advance of a proposed development (McLoughlin 2004, 14, 18). Delany (2023) summaries the variations in the town ditch as, 'archaeological excavations along the line of the towns northern defences also uncovered a ditch, which ranged from 6m wide and 1.5m deep on the high ground in the east extent of the town, to 4m wide and 1m deep on the site adjoining the excavation site in the lower-lying west extent of the town. The results of the various investigations indicate that the north side of the town was protected by a substantial ditch, and probably an internal earthen bank most likely formed of upcast from the ditch. The ditch appears to have been more substantial to the east, reducing in width and depth as it proceeded downslope to the west'. Ref.: Delany, D. 2023 Archaeological excavation at Ogenty, Kilkenny Road, Gowran, Co. Kilkenny. Final report. Excavation licence number: 21E0385. An Bord Pleanala reference: ABP-306914-19. Dominic Delany & Associates. Unpublished report Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 22 March 2020

• KK020-060004 Castle - unclassified
  Description

  Located c. 60m S of the medieval town of Gowran. The site of the castle is marked on the 1900 revision of the OS 6-inch map, c. 60m NE of Gowran House, and was visible in 1992 as, ‘an overgrown mound, with evidence of masonry and rising to c. 1.5m above the surrounding ground level’ (Farrelly et al. 1992, 143). This mound has been removed and the E half is now incorporated in a farmyard where the ground level has been significantly reduced (McLoughlin 2007, 18). An archaeological excavation (06E0237) in 2006 in the W portion of the former mound, prior to a proposed development, revealed very large stones as well as red brick and mortar (ibid.). Following the acquisition of the Kingdom of Leinster by Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in 1172, his followers were rewarded with portions of the kingdom and Gowran went to Theobald fitz Walter, Chief Butler of Ireland (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 400). It is likely that a motte and bailey castle (KK020-060005-) was erected in Gowran around this time. Gowran became the principal seat of the Butlers for a short period from the second half of the 14th century, when they lost Nenagh (KK020-037001-), until 1391 when they acquired Kilkenny Castle (KK020-019078-). In the 14th century Gowran was very much a frontier town, as is emphasised in a document of 1382 which gives, ‘licence to Thomas Derkyn and Walter Cantell, who are staying in the marches of Ballygarveran on the frontier of the Irish enemies, viz. McMurgh and Onolan and their accomplices, to treat and make concord for themselves, their tenants and for the men of others, and to give them provisions and cloth, for the defence of their tenants and others against the invasions of the Irish, provided that they should not give or sell them any victuals, horses or armour in time of war, and that this treat is not to the K[ing]’s prejudice nor that of this faithful people (chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/https://chancery.tcd.ie/document/patent/5-richard-ii/192; accessed 9 March 2021). In c. 1385 James Butler, the 3rd Earl of Ormond built a new castle at Gowran (Carrigan 1903, vol. 3, 400). This castle (KK020-060004-), which no longer survives, appears to have been built on a site close to that occupied by the later house built in 1816 by Viscount Clifden (ibid.). ‘Castle (Site of)’ is indicated on the 1900 revised 6-inch OS map c. 75m NE of the later ‘Gowran Castle’, though curiously is not indicated on the earlier 1839 edition. There is a reference to one Teige OCarroll being imprisoned in Gowran castle in 1399 (ibid.). According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 401) the castle was rebuilt c. 1500 by Margaret FitzGerald, the Countess of Ormond. The Calendar of Ormond Deeds records an inquisition taken at Kilkenny after the death of James Butler, Earl of Ormond in 1546 which describes the manor of Ballygawran (Gowran) as containing, ‘appurtenances [rights pertaining to property], and one castle, thirty messuages [a house with outbuildings and a parcel of land or yard], eighty acres of arable land, four acres of meadow, twenty acres of pasture, with two acres of underwood and two water mills, with appurtenances, in Ballygawran, also 9l. 6s. 8d. chief rent due of the burgesses of said town each year, besides suit of court [obligation to attend and participate in the manorial court]’ (Curtis 1937, vol. 4, 301-02 (361)). A rental account of Gowran in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds, c. 1550, mentions seven town gates in Gowran, including the ‘Castell barr’, which presumably gave access from the SE quadrant of the town southward to the castle (Curtis 1941, vol. 5, 44-7 (25)). On a 1710/11 map of Gowran a lane is depicted at the E end of the town running southward towards the castle and probably lead to the castle gate (White 1710/11). The castle itself is depicted on this map (ibid.). Though probably stylised, it shows a central two storey block with turrets on either end and with other possible turrets or chimneys appearing above the roof of the central block (ibid.). Also depicted on this map is a street, ‘Haggerd Street’ running outside of, and parallel to, the S town wall, between the castle and the SW end of the town (ibid.). A royal grant of lands to George Sherlock in 1597 includes, ‘a messuage and garden in Haggard-street, extending in length from the Haggard Street leading to the castle of the earl of Ormond on the north, and to the lands of the said Earl on the south’ (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 401; Curtis 1943, vol. 6, 106 (131)). In 1650, the castle was besieged by Cromwellian forces and, after a short pounding by artillery, was surrendered by Colonel Hammond who, together with his officers, was executed (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 402). Cromwell described this as, ‘a very strong castle’ in which there were ‘good store of provisions for the army’ (ibid.). The castle was then set on fire (ibid.). The castle is indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Gowran, County Kilkenny as a stylised tower, annotated, 'Castle of Gowran' on 'Lord Iretons Lands' (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). The castle and estate remained in Butler hands until c. 1700 (ibid. 400). It then passed to Lewis Chaigneau, a Dublin merchant who sold it, c. 1710 to James Agar, the son of a Cromwellian solider. According to Moran (1980s, 2) the castle then consisted of ‘a large round tower in the centre and four smaller ones around it’ but following a fire in 1713 the castle was altered, adding, ‘a front two storeys high of nine windows with a pediment in the centre’. In 1815-16 he began building a new house to replace the castle which was falling into disrepair (ibid., 13; Bence-Jones 1988, 144). See attached: KKK020-060004-_01 Extract from Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Gowran, County Kilkenny (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) K020-060004-_02 White, J. 1710/11 A survey of the towne and lands of Gowrane in the County of Kilkenny belonging to Mr Lewis Chaigneau of Dublin merch[an]t made in the presence of Mr David Chaigneau Mr John Bayly Mr John Sandbeach Sam[ue]l Bingham James Quigly and Mr James White the surveyor; and the said lands contain arable pasture and meadow one thousand two hundred ninety seven acres thirty five perches plantation measure over and above all deductions for intermixt lands and common high roads as appeareth by a table of reference hereunto. Surveyed in the month of March 1710/11 by a scale of 20 p[er]chs. Ja: White. NLI MS map 21.F.55 (4). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 March 2021

• KK020-060005 Castle - motte
  Description

  Following the acquisition of the Kingdom of Leinster by Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in 1172, his followers were rewarded with portions of the kingdom and Gowran went to Theobald fitz Walter, Chief Butler of Ireland (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 400). It is likely that a motte and bailey castle (KK020-060005-) was erected in Gowran around this time. Gowran became the principal seat of the Butlers for a short period from the second half of the 14th century, when they lost Nenagh (KK020-037001-), until 1391 when they acquired Kilkenny Castle (KK020-019078-). In c. 1385 James Butler, the 3rd Earl of Ormond built a new castle (KK020-060004-) at Gowran (Carrigan 1903, vol. 3, 400). The precise location of this late 12th/early 13th-century castle is unknown, though it may have been on the site of the later 14th-century castle, which is also no longer visible above ground level. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 March 2021

• KK020-060006 Church
  Description

  Roughly S of centre of the medieval town of Gowran. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 400), Theobald fitz Walter, before his death in 1206, ‘granted a charter of incorporation to his free burgesses of Balligaueran [Gowran]. Possibly it was he, too, who appropriated the Rectory, or moiety of the Rectory, of Gowran to the Knights Templars, of the Priory of Kilmainham, who are found in possession of same as early as the year 1254’. According to Gwynn and Hadcock (1988, 329), the Knights Templars had a dispute over the advowson [church benefice] of the chapel of ‘Ballygaveran’ in 1253. In 1312 there was another dispute over, ‘the advowson of the moiety [e.g. a half portion of the church benefice] of the Church of the Blessed Mary of Ballygowrane’, between Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick and the Dean and Chapter of St Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, it was agreed that the later would support, ‘four priests to celebrate Masses in the said Church of the Blessed Mary’ for Edmund Butler and his descendants in perpetuity (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 408-09). According to Carrigan (ibid., 409) the collegiate residence for these priests is indicated as “Colledge” on a 1710 map of Gowran and, ‘adjoined the old churchyard of Gowran, on the east, where its foundations are still traceable’. When Edmund Butler died in London in 1321, his body was brought back to Ireland and buried in Gowran church. In 1337 his son James, the 1st Earl of Ormond was also buried in this church, as was the 3rd Earl, also James, in 1404. In 1501 (based on order of Ormond Deeds) the portreeve (mayor) and ‘commons’ of Ballygrowran sent a request to the Earl of Ormond that, 'it wolde pleas youe to send to your chirche of Balygauerane sum ornaments at your pleasir wher with the dywne service in the same mey be augmented unto thonour of god and a perpetual memory of your lordship and of your full noble antecessers thryn buried’ (Curtis 1937, vol. 4, 347 (Appendum 3, 56)). In the Royal Visitation Book of 1615 it was noted that four priests were living together in their collage (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 410). The church originally consisted of an aisled nave and chancel separated by a crossing tower. Stalley (1971, 75-80) noted the similarity between the design and execution of Gowran church with St Canice’s Cathedral and St Mary’s church in Thomastown, suggesting that they were built c. 1260 by the same master mason, whom he coined the ‘Gowran master’. He notes other mid-13th century parallels between the main doorway at Gowran, in the N aisle of the nave, with those at Graiguenamanagh and St Canice’s Cathedral (Stalley 1987, 65). The chancel, together with a side chapel and turret, were demolished in 1827 to make way for a C of I church, probably designed by William Robertson (Dolan 2000, vol. 3, 112). In 1872 this church was largely rebuilt by Thomas Henry Wyatt (ibid.). Grose (1791, vol. 1, pl. 46, 47) has a drawing and plan of the church before it was altered. In this the chancel, which is roofed, is lit by three three-light windows in the S wall and one at the E end of the N wall, and by a large five-light window in the E gable. A small single-storey roofless building with S gable is shown projecting from the S wall of the chancel and another building is shown in plan projected from the N wall. A mural stair at the W end of this latter building suggests it was at least two-storeys high. The surviving remains consist of the crossing tower and the aisled nave. The crossing tower was probably heightened in the 15th century. During the rebuilding works of 1872 the vaulting underneath the tower was removed, ‘apparently with the view of giving the same elevation as the choir roof to the portion of the belfry which will form part of the church’ (Dolan 2000, vol. 3, 113). The original arch of the crossing tower is visible in the W face of the W wall of the tower, where it has been blocked up and a 13th-century doorway inserted, into which a modern pointed doorway, accessed via a metal stair, has been inserted. In 1910-11 the Office of Public Works repaired a bad crack in the S face of the tower and stabilised the W gable of the church (OPW report). In 1935 the church was, ‘thoroughly repaired’ and part of the W wall was underpinned (ibid.). At some point in the 19th century a large buttress was built up against the S end of the W face of the W wall of the tower. The nave arcade originally consisted of four arches on the N and S, the S arcade is illustrated in Grose’s (1791, vol. 1, pl. 46) but has since collapsed, leaving only the N arcade upstanding. Its piers are quatrefoil in plan with chamfered arches springing from plain horizontally-moulded capitals. There are four quatrefoil clerestorey windows in the N wall within segmental-pointed rear-arches, similar to those at St Canice’s Cathedral and Bective Abbey, Co. Meath (Stalley 1987, 110). The two central clerestorey windows are blocked up. The arcade wall is topped with stepped battlements. The W gable of the nave is lit by a graded three-light window with trefoil-pointed heads. The rear-arches are moulded and there are hood-mouldings within and without. Internally there are banded shafts surmounted by foliage capitals with carved heads forming the stops. Above this window there is a six-lobed occulus and above that, illuminating the roof space, is a flat-headed single-light window within a pointed embrasure . The aisles are lit by twin-lights at each end. These are trefoil pointed with a quatrefoil above. The eastern examples have inner frames consisting of a central pillar bearing moulded, trefoil-headed arches with a quatrefoil in the central spandrel. It is embellished with many foliage cusps and the subsidiary arches have dog-tooth ornamentation (Stalley 1971, 80). At the E end of the S aisle there is a double piscina, the central pillar of the double trefoil-headed arch is missing, as is the lower stone of the quatrefoil in the central spandrel. Also in the S aisle cinquefoil arches span tomb recesses in the S wall. To the W of the S aisle is the mortuary chapel erected by the Kealy family in the 17th century and contains a wall monument (KK020-060038-) to Piers Kealy and his wife, dated 1648. Grose’s (1791, vol. 1, pl. 46) illustration shows this chapel as a roofless ruin, the E gable of which is built against a two-storey square tower. According to Drennan (1965, 60) the N aisle was divided into four compartments to buttress the N wall of the nave against threatened collapse. In the easternmost compartment a wall monument (KK020-060033-) to James Kealy and his two wives, dated 1626, has been built up against the E wall. The C of I church went out of use c. 1970, at which time the medieval font was moved to the C of I church at Old Leighlin, Co. Carlow (ibid., 114). The former C of I church has since been renovated to house and display an ogham stone (KK020-060007-) many of the graveslabs (KK020-060008-; KK020-060034- to KK020-060037-; KK020-060039- to KK020-060040-; KK020-060042-; KK020-060044- to KK020-060050-; KK020-060052- to KK020-060058-; KK020-060067- to KK020-060068-) and effigial tombs (KK020-060009-; KK020-060032-; KK020-060043-; KK020-060051-; KK020-060062- to KK020-060066-) from the medieval parish church. Some of these are in the nave and other are in the mortuary chapel S of the nave. (National Monument No. 214) See attached photographs: KK020-060006-_01 W gable and S side of nave and crossing tower from SW KK020-060006-_02 N side of church from the NW KK020-060006-_03 Interior of former C of I church on site of former chancel KK020-060006-_04 N side of nave from the NW KK020-060006-_05 W gable of nave interior KK020-060006-_06 E end of S aisle of nave KK020-060006-_07 S wall of S aisle of nave – tomb recesses KK020-060006-_08 S wall of S aisle of nave – piscina and tomb recess KK020-060006-_09 Crossing tower – W face KK020-060006-_10 Clerestorey windows (2 blocked) E end of N arcade of nave KK020-060006-_11 Cross

• KK020-060007 Ogham stone
  Description

  Found in the foundations of the chancel of the medieval parish church of St Mary's Gowran (KK020-060006-), when the chancel was demolished in 1827 to make way for a C of I church (Brash 1872-3; 437; Dolan 2000, vol. 3, 112). The ogham stone (max H 1.51m; max. Wth 0.43m; D 0.33) bears a 'large cross potent, crookedly set out [and] cut on the original base of the inscribed face . . . Inscription cut, on two edges (up-up) and though chipped in places, on the whole in quite good condition' (Macalister 1945, 38, no. 32). Macalister recorded the inscription as: MAQI-ERAC[I]AS [MA]QI DIMAQ[A] MUC[OI-- and McManus (1997, 66) as: [MAQI]-ERAC[IAS] [MAQI] D[I]M[A]Q[A] MUC[O--. It is currently on display in the former C of I church. See attached photographs: KK020-060007-_02 Front and dexter side KK020-060007-_03 Scanned image of front and dexter side KK020-060007-_04 Front and sinister side Compiled by: Nora White and Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 14 August 2019

• KK020-060008 Graveslab
  Description

  Fixed S of the tower, to the internal W wall of a 19th-century C of I church which was built on the former chancel of the 13th-century church of St Mary’s (KK020-060006-) in Gowran. A limestone graveslab (L 2.35m; Wth 0.89m; T 0.16m) which is decorated with a seven-armed segmental floriated cross in false relief within a recessed panel. There is a three bar knop at the base of the cross-head. The shaft rests on a stepped Calvary mount. There is an illegible inscription, which appears to have been deliberately defaced, along the base and dexter margin of the slab which continues in two lines across the face of the slab below the barred knop with the date 1686 beneath it. Beneath this in English capitals there is a later inscription in three lines across the slab with the date 1696 below this. Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 404) was unable to read the earlier inscription but transcribed the later one as, ‘CHARLES AGAR BURGES DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 1696’. Listed by Cockerham (2009, 363). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 19 August 2019

• KK020-060009 Tomb - effigial
  Description

  Centrally placed within a 19th-century C of I church which was built on the former chancel of the 13th-century church of St Mary’s (KK020-060006-) in Gowran. A double effigial limestone tomb (L 2.2m; Wth 1.24m; H 0.91m) with two figures of knights carved in high relief. Rae (1970, 11-12) suggests it was commissioned by Piers Butler (d. 1539) to commemorate his two brothers, Edmond and Theobald, who both died before 1491 or 1501, though other possibilities are also discussed. Piers Butler and his wife Margaret FitzGerald (d. 1542) may have been responsible for commissioning several early 16th-century Butler tombs, commemorating past members of the family, in an effort to bolster the prestige of the MacRichard Butlers in their contested claim to the Earldom of Ormond (Rae 1970, 10; Moss 2014, 502). Hunt (1974, vol. 1, 170) describes the armour in detail. The heads have been cut away. Hunt suggests that this is the result of ‘an ancient repair than of the lack of a sufficient thickness of stone’ (ibid.). A portion of the slab carved with the upper legs of the dexter knight is missing and the surface of the lower portion of this knight’s armour is also missing. The surface of the sinister knight’s lower legs is broken off as is portion of this knight’s dexter leg around the knee. The lower legs and the dogs on which they rest, appear to be carved from a separate slab of limestone. There is a crack across the upper slab running across the head of the dexter knight and the upper body of the sinister knight and another between the two knights. The S side panel (L 2.05m; H 0.74m; D 0.14m) on the sinister side consists of two slabs. The first slab on the left is carved with a coat of arm bearing a simple cross which Hunt (ibid.) suggests is the ‘the shield of St Michael, which treasure the Butlers claimed to hold as an heirloom of the house’. The larger slab is carved with four sequential coats of arms. The first bears the indented Butler coat, the next a cross flanked by a ladder and a whipping post with scourges in the field, the next with a seamless garment with three dice beneath and the last with a crown of thorns flanked by a pole with sponge and a lance. The panel at the foot of the tomb (Wth 1.03m; H 0.75m) is decorated with a crucifixion scene, with Our Lady to the right of the crucified Christ and St John to the left, carved in false relief within a raised border. The N side panel (L 2.16m; H 0.74m) on the dexter side consists of two slabs. The left slab is carved with four sequential coats of arms. The first consists of a plain shield in a circle on a lattice ground, the next a shield bearing a heart pierced by two swords, the next a shield with nails between pinchers and a hammer and then a shield with a lion rampant impaling Butler (Hunt 1974, vol. 1, 170). The rightmost slab is carved with a plain shield in a circle on a lattice ground. The base of this slab has been damaged, with a portion broken out. The panel at the head of the tomb (Wth 1.02m; H 0.74m; D 0.1m) is carved with two identical Butler coats with chiefs indented . The carving is largely on one slab, but it continues onto the edges of both side panels. See attached photographs: KK020-060009-_01 Tomb from above taken from N side KK020-060009-_02 E end panel at foot of tomb KK020-060009-_03 N side panel of tomb KK020-060009-_04 W end panel at head of tomb KK020-060009-_05 S side panel of tomb Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 6 August 2019

• KK020-060010 College
  Description

  In the SE angle of St Mary’s graveyard (KK020-060024-), c. 30m from the church (KK020-060006-). In 1312 a college was established to compensate Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick for the loss of any financial entitlement (advowson) from St Mary’s church, which were due to the patron, and which was now being given to the Dean and Chapter of St Canice’s, Kilkenny. The Dean and Chapter agreed to, ‘find, and support at our own expense, four priests to celebrate Masses in the said Church of the Blessed Mary for the said Edmund and Joan, his wife, and sons and daughters; and for all his ancestors and successors, living and dead’ (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 409). The college appears to have continued post-Reformation under Protestant chaplains and it is mentioned in the Regal Visitation Book of 1615 (ibid, 409-10). The priests, or chaplains, lived collegiately, in community and their residence is indicated as, ‘Colledge’ on White’s 1710/11 map of Gowran. In the early 20th century the foundations of the college are described as being ‘still traceable’ (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 409). Drennan (1965, 58-9) noted that, ‘Traces of this college can still be seen and its back wall was probably strengthened to make the wall of the present Protestant cemetery’. There was no trace of the building when inspected in 1992. See attached copy of White map 1710/11 Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 March 2021

And 55 more.

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

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